Remember that whole trademark tiff between Apple and Amazon over the generic or non-generic term “app store?”
Despite going quiet for the past month, the case is certainly not over, although statements made by U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton suggest that Apple may be losing steam in its fight. → Read More
At WWDC 2011, Apple announced that there are now more than 400K apps in its app store (and that more than 500K have been approved). The Android Marketplace has around 300K apps and is growing fast. The point is: There are a lot apps out there already, and more hit app stores every day. They’re going like hotcakes. But finding and discovering new apps that you actually care about? Eh, not so easy. Of course, it’s not for lack of trying. There are some awesome tools out there already trying to direct the fire hose and filter the noise.
Chomp, for example, is trying to become the Google search for apps. Zwapp, Frenzapp, and Appsfire are all bringing social to app discovery, while Heyzap is busy trying to kill game discovery. Today, Discovr adds a dy-no-mite app discovery tool to the crowd, going after the user experience problem in an awesome, though somewhat mathematical way: Interactive graphs. → Read More
Short version: Rosetta Stone launched its iPad app today, which is basically just a lighter version of its core “course” software. The app itself is nothing extraordinary, but the way it teaches languages is pretty awesome. Foreign language has never been my best subject, but I had a blast playing with this app because it feels way more like a puzzle than a language lesson. The worst part is the price: you have to be a Rosetta Stone customer to access the app. → Read More
For as long as I can remember, there has been one app that has constantly held the top paid app spot in Apple’s App Store: Angry Birds. Sure, other apps surge to the top briefly. But Angry Birds always comes flying right back. But a new app appears to be bucking that trend. Today is day 3 of The Heist‘s reign, and sales are quickening.
As The Loop noted after a partial day 1, The Heist saw download numbers just over 25,000. This was already enough to overtake Angry Birds. But what’s really remarkable are the day two numbers. There were 89,798 downloads of The Heist on day two. Again, that’s for a paid app ($0.99). → Read More
There’s no doubt Android Market will at some point offer more applications for download and/or purchase than Apple’s App Store, as the latter’s growth has been slowing down of late, while the Android application store’s growth rate has been accelerating.
In a recent report, app store analytics company Distimo forecasted that Android would surpass the App Store in size before the end of July 2011.
Another research firm, Germany-based research2guidance, corroborates Distimo’s findings; the firm forecasts Android to blow past Apple’s App Store by August 2011. → Read More
App store analytics provider Distimo today published its latest report, once again zooming in on the pricing of mobile applications across a variety of platforms. We got an exclusive early look at the new report.
According to Distimo, Google’s Android Market currently offers 134,342 free applications for download, while Apple’s App Store for iPhone offers 121,845 free applications. → Read More
I see you driving ’round town with an app that measures cellular radiation, and I’m like, “no interest”.
Apple head honcho Steve Jobs has made it abundantly clear that Tawkon‘s phone radiation measurement application is not welcome on its official App Store, pushing the startup to make it available for free (for jailbroken iPhones) through Cydia instead.
Tawkon sent a courteous email to Jobs in the hopes of gaining approval for distribution of the application through Apple’s App Store, only to receive a characteristically curt response back. → Read More
Don’t call it an app store. Apple has sued Amazon over the latter’s use of the term “Appstore,” with a spokeswoman saying that it “will confuse and mislead consumers,” tricking them into thinking they’re downloading software from its own App Store. Apple says it’s tried to contact Amazon at least three times, but Amazon hasn’t made any public comment yet. → Read More
Back in 2007, we covered AdPinion, a Y Combinator startup that allowed you to vote on ads you wanted to see on the web. In 2008, we covered the launch of Appalanche, a web-based app recommendation engine. Then in 2009, we covered Appsaurus, a native iPhone app recommendation engine that was aiming out “outsmart Apple’s App Store genius”. What do all of these startups have in common? They’re all actually the same startup. And today, the company behind them, Hello, Chair, is combining what they’ve learned over the years into one new startup: Explor.
The truth is that Explor is going after the same problem that both Appalanche and Appsaurus did: app discovery on the iPhone. But they recognize that no one (including them) has nailed it just yet, so they’re going for a new approach this time. Instead of being about search and categories, Explor focuses on a touch-based experience to navigate through the app store. It’s simple: you find an app you like and you touch it to see more apps like it. It’s seamless and a really nice way to browse. → Read More
Atrinsic, the direct and online search marketing agency that acquired the assets of former P2P sharing tool Kazaa a couple of months ago, is trying to drum up some attention for the digital music subscription service this morning. In a press release, the company posits that there’s been a ‘breakthrough’ for iPhone and iPad (and Android) users because its service is now ‘accessible on iOS devices’ simply by visiting Kazaa.com.
Atrinsic is very explicit about why it is not taking the usual route of creating and marketing a dedicated mobile app for the mobile platform(s): it is not pleased with Apple‘s recent announcement that it will keep 30% of revenue generated by new subscriptions and media purchases made within an iPhone or iPad app through its App Store. → Read More
You read the headline “Android Market grows a staggering 861.5 per cent”, and you think, “Wow, Android is really on a tear.” But then you look at the fine print, and you realize that Android Market revenues are still barely registering, and that the only reason they grew so much in 2010 was because in 2009 they were nearly non-existent.
According to a chart making the rounds from UK-based research firm IHS, Android Market revenues in 2010 came in at an estimated $102 million, up from $11 million the year before.
And how did that compare to revenues from Apple’s App Store? Apple App Store revenues came in at an estimated $1.7 billion in 2010, almost 20 times bigger than Android. And Apple App Store revenue grew at a not-too-shabby 131.9 percent rate. More importantly, Apple accounts for 83 percent of the total estimated app store revenues. → Read More
We wrote about a blatant theft of IP a few weeks back. It was about the company Halfbot and their game Blocks Cometh and how their original flash game was stolen and put on the iTunes App store. After we (and many others) wrote about the theft, Apple took down game. Ars Technica followed up with the two-person development team. They tell their side of the horror story and discuss their options going forward. → Read More